sears



Nm. 626 726. Patented liune [3, I899. w. A. sun-$ m. FER'HHZ'ER-DISTRIBUTEB ATTACHMENT FDR. GULTIVATUBS.

(Application med June, 22;. 1897.)

3 Sheets$heet I.

(No Modem no." 626,726. Patented 1 [3, I899.

w. A. SEARS, In. v F ERTILIZER DTSTRIBUTER ATTACHMENT FUR CULTIVATURSZ v (Applies-ting filed June 22, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet '2.

(No Model.)

No. 626,726; v I Pat ehted lune |s,'|a99.

w; A. SEARS, In. FERTILIZER DSTRIBUTER ATTACHMENT FUR GULTIVATOR J.

(Application filed June 22, 1897.) I (No Model.) a shepa ts s heet 3.,

wi hwam UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. SEARS, J R., OF BEDFORD, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES H. 'EMERY', OF SAME PLACE.

FERTILIZER-DISTRIBUTER ATTACHMENT FOR CULTIVATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 626,726, dated June 13, 1899.

Application filed June 2 2, 1 8 9 '7.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. SEARS, Jr. of Bedford, in the county of Lawrence and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fertilizer-Distributer Attachments for Cultivators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to improvements in combined fertilizer-distributer attachments for cult-ivators.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of fertilizer-distributers and cultivators and to provide a simple and economical one capable of uniformly distributing a fertilizer as it is needed and adapted to permit the cultivating devices to be readily raised and lowered to throw them into and out of operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fertilizerdistributer which may be readily applied to the ordinary cultivator.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with this invention, the plows being removed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, the plows being in position. Fig. 3 is a sectional View of one of the hoppers, illustrating the arrangement of the feeding and stirring mechanism and the gearing for operating the same.

Fig. 4 is an elevation, partly in section, illustrating the manner of mounting the fertilizerdistributer on an ordinary cultivator. Fig. 5 is a detail view illustrating the construction for connecting the plow-beams to the standards. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the outer attachment-plate for mounting the gearing on a cultivator-wheel. Fig. 7 is a reversed plan View of the horizontal gear-wheel. Figs. 8 and 9 are detail views illustrating the connections between the cultivating mechanism and the frame of the machine and showing the position of the parts when the cultivating mechanism is raised and lowered. Fig. 10 is Serial No. 641,811. (No model.)

a plan View, partly broken away. Fig. 11 is a detail view of the plowshare or shovelclamp. Fig. 12 is a sectional plan view of one of the hoppers, illustrating the construction of the feed-disk.

Like numerals of reference indicate corre- 'sponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 1 designate stub -aXles having supporting-Wheels mounted on their outer ends and journaled in suitable bearings 4 of an arched rodor bar 3, whereby .an arched axle is provided and the bearings 4 of the stub-axles are preferably composed of sections and consist of clamps, as shown. The arched rod or bar 3, which forms the body portion of the axle,

is constructed of tubular metal, and the inner E ends of the stub-axles, which terminate short of the center of the machine, are supported by vertical rods 5, secured at their upper ends to the arched bar or body of the axle and provided at their lower ends with clamps or bearings 6.

A tongue 7, which is provided at its outer end with an ordinary neck-yoke 8, has its rear end mounted upon the arched bar 3 and is provided at a point intermediate of its ends with a wheel or disk 9, journaled on the upper face of the tongue and adapted to prevent the draft-animal from leaning against the same when plowing. The tongue is supported by the inclined bracing-rods 10, arranged in pairs and secured at their upper or front ends to the tongue and at their lower or rear ends to the lower terminals of the rods 5 and to the extremities of the arched bar or rod 3.

A doubletree 11, which is centrally pivoted to the lower face of the tongue, extends through and is supported by the bracket 12, disposed longitudinally of and secured to the lower face of the tongue. The doubletree is provided at its ends with dependent bars 13, connected at their lower ends with the bar 3 by links or chains 14, and provided with a vertical series of perforations which are adapted to receive clamps 15, whereby singletrees 16 are adj ustably secured to the downwardly-extending bars 13.

The vertical bars 5 and the downwardlyextending portions of the arched bar 3 form supports for horizontal rods or bars 17, which IOO support hoppers or fertilizer-containers arranged in the spaces between the end portions of the arched bar and the vertical bars 5. The feeding and stirring mechanism of each hopper is operated by a vertically-disposed cog-wheel 19, adjustably mounted on the adjacent stub-axle and arranged to mesh with a horizontal gear-wheel 20, fixed to the lower end of a vertical shaft 21, which 6X- tends upward through the bottom-of the hopper or fertilizer-container and carries a feeding-disk 22 at its upper end. Each gearwheel is provided on its lower face with concentric series of cogs or teeth 23, and it may be driven at different rates of speed by adjusting the cog-wheel 19 on the stub-shaft, and any suitable means may be provided for securing the cog-wheel 19 in its adjustment.

Each hopper or container is provided at its bottom with a discharge-opening 24, through which the fertilizer passes, and the same drops into a tube 25, having a funnel-shaped upper end, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings. The discharge of fertilizer through the opening 24 is controlled by means of a slide 26, provided with a corresponding opening adapted to register fully or partially with the opening 24, and it may cover the same entirely, if desired. The rotary feeding-disk 22 is provided with an annular series of radially-disposed slots 26, and it has a radial series of blades 27 on one side i of the slots, preferably formed by striking up the metal of the disk and adapted to stir or agitate the fertilizer and cause the same to pass downward through the slots 26 into the tube By this construction the fertilizer is fed positively and uniformly, and it is prevented from clogging the hopper and the feeding mechanism, and the latter may be thrown out of operation by moving the cog- Wheels longitudinally of the shafts to carry them out of mesh with the horizontal gearwheels 20.

The cultivator-beams are provided with sections 29, having eyes or bearin gs at their front ends to receive transversely-disposed hori zontal rods 28, which have their ends curved forward and seen red to the terminals of the rods or bars 3 and 5. The sections 29, which are adapted to swing upward on the pintles formed by the bars 28, are arranged in pairs, as shown in Fig. 10 of the accompanying drawings, and the'inner member of each pair is provided with a series of perforations 30, adapted to be engagedby the lower end of an inclined rod 31. The upper end of the rod 31 passes through perforations of parallel arms or straps 32 and 34, which arms have perforations for the reception of the lower end of a rod 33, the rods 31 and 33 being extended in opposite directions and arranged at the ends of the straps or arms, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 ofthe drawings. The parallel portions of the rods 31 and 33 have coiled springs disposed on them and interposed between the straps or arms 32 and 34 to form a cushioning device, and the upper ends of the rods 33 are adapted to engage any one of a series of perforations 35 of a bell-crank lever 37, which is fulcrumed at its angle on the vertical bar 5. The upper arm of the bellcrank lever is pivotally connected to the lower end of a bar or lever 38, extending through a loop 39,which is swiveled to a clamp 40. The clamp is mounted on the rod 5 at a point above the fulcrum of the lever 37, and the coiled spring 41,which is disposed on the lower arm or portion of the lever 38, is interposed between the swiveled loop 39 and the adjacent end of the bell-crank lever 37. The up per portions of the operating-levers 38 are adapted to be grasped by theoperator, and when these levers are oscillated the cultivator-beams are raised and lowered, as will be readily understood. The movement of. the operating-levers is limited by stops 42, formed on the bars 5 and arranged to engage the lower arms of the levers 38, as clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawings.

Pivoted to the sections 29 are beams 43, which are curved downward at their rear ends and provided at the latter with transverselycurved slots 44, and to these beams are secured curved standards 45, which have corresponding curved slots 46 at their upper ends. The adjacent ends of the standards and the beams overlap, and each is provided with a perforation registering with the slot of the other, the parts being adjustably connected by bolts 43 and 45, which pass through the perforations and the slots. The standards 45 carry shovels 47 or other forms of cultivating devices,and the con nection between the standards 45 and the beams 43 permit the cultivating devices to be adjustable to suit the character of the soil to be operated on. The

, shovels 47 are adj ustably secured to the standards 45 by clamps 48, and handles 49 are connected with the cultivator-beams, as shown.

The fertilizer-distributer may be attached to an ordinary cultivator, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 ofthe accompanying drawings, by clamping it to the frame of the cultivator, and a shaft 50 is provided for transmitting motion from one of the wheels to the fertilizer-distributer. The shaft 50, which is j ournaled in suitable bearings of brackets 52, is provided atits inner end with a pinion 51,which meshes with the horizontal gearwheel 20 of the fer tilizer-distributer. The outer end of the shaft 50 carries a pinion 53, which meshes with the internal gear 54, consisting of a plate or casting bolted to the inner side of the adjacent wheel of the cultivator. The bolts which fasten the internal gear-wheel to the cultivatorwheel pass through the latter and through an outer attachment-plate and have nuts engaging the same.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

What I claim is 1. The combination of the arched bar 3, stub-axles arranged at the ends of the arched bar, supporting-wheels mounted on the stubaxles at the outer ends thereof, the bars 5 connecting the inner ends of the stub-axles with the arched bar, hoppers arranged in the spaces between the bars 5 and the ends of the arched bar 3, stirring and feeding devices arranged within the hoppers, and gearing connecting the stirring and feeding devices with the said wheels, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a frame, a hopper, a rotary disk mounted within the hopper and provided with an annular series of slots adapted to register with a feed-opening of the hopper, an annular series of radial blades mounted on the rotary disk at one side of the slots, and gearing for operating the rotary disk, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a supporting-frame, supporting-wheels therefor, beams pivoted to said frame, bell-crank levers also pivoted to the frame, loops or guides swiveled to said frame, levers movable within said loops or guides and pivoted at their lower ends to the bell-crank levers, and rods pivoted to the bellcrank levers and to the beams, whereby when the lever is operated the beams will be raised and lowered, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a frame, supportingwheels therefor, beams pivoted to the frame, clamps secured to the said frame, loops swiveled to the said clamps, operating-levers movable through the loops, bell-crank levers pivoted to the frame and having their upper ends connected to the operating-levers, rods pivoted to the bell-crank levers and to the beams, said rods being movable on each other, links disposed on the operating-levers and arranged between the loops and the bell-crank levers,

and stops for limiting the movement of the operating-levers, substantially as described.

5. In a cultivator, the combination of a frame, a pivoted beam adapted to swing upward and downward, a lever fulcrumed between its ends on the frame, a yielding connectin g device extending from one arm of the lever to the beam, and an operating-lever fulcrumed on the frame and connected .with the other arm of the said lever and provided with a cushioning device, substantially as described.

6. In a cultivator, the combination of a frame, axles, supporting-wheels mounted on the axles, a hopper, an agitator or stirrer arranged Within the hopper, a gear-wheel connected with the agitator or stirrer and arranged on the exterior of the hopper,

arranged parallel with the adjacent axle, and

' gearing located at the ends of the shaft and connecting the same with the adjacent wheel and with the said gear-Wheel, substantially as described.

7. In a cultivator, the combination of a frame, a cultivator-beam pivotally connected with the frame and adapted to swing upward and downward, a bell-crank lever fulcrumed on the frame and having one arm connected with the beam, an operating-lever loosely ful crumed on the frame and connected with the other arm of the bell-crank lever, and means for cushioning the levers, substantially as de scribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM A. SEARS, JR.

Witnesses:

MARY H. SEARS, W. F. BROOKS.

a shaft 

